


Dark Hallways

by Insomniac_with_dreams



Series: Beskar and Kyber [2]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Continuation of Crystal Tears, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din does not trust R2 as far as he can throw him, Fluff, Good Parent Din Djarin, Grogu | Baby Yoda Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, I guess readers can interpret Din's reaction to the dark as they please, Kinda?, Luke's Green Light saber, M/M, Protective Din Djarin, Protective Luke Skywalker, fear of the dark, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28235718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomniac_with_dreams/pseuds/Insomniac_with_dreams
Summary: “Sorry,” Din husks. His throat hurts, his nose hurts, his head hurts. The impromptu nap had left a heaviness like lead hanging heavy in his bones. He isn’t handling himself well, especially not in front of a stranger who had clearly shown himself to be powerful.“Why are you sorry?” The Jedi asks, he’s smiling at Din,  like he knows him. Din doesn’t know how to feel about that.Din’s hands twitch as he shrugs, a listless thing, “ I normally don’t, um, cry. In front of people,” Well. He does, just not that much. He’d cried on the Slave 1 after the Razor Crest was destroyed and Grogu taken from him.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: Beskar and Kyber [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065137
Comments: 62
Kudos: 1310





	Dark Hallways

**Author's Note:**

> The beautiful little poem you are about to read before this installment was written by SleepingReader in my comments and I needed everyone to read how lovely they are. 
> 
> Thank you for your words.

Spaceship goes on an unplanned trek  
And we need to look for a kriffing astromech  
Let's get out of here, time to scout  
But Jedi? keep your damn light sword out

~SleepingReader

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Din feels empty. Like a shell of a man, run down and sick of the galaxy. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but after the Jedi had left, Din had shaken as he slipped his helmet back on and turned back towards Bo-Katan. She glared at him like an enemy, and something hot and full of hatred had burned fast and manic through him. He’d unclipped the damned sword from his belt and threw it with everything he had onto the control panel nearest her. 

“I don’t want it,” he had growled, and the thickness in his voice cracked. Cara had stepped forward and Din had stepped back away from her, his back hitting the wall he let himself slid to the floor, the momentum of everything washing over him. When he woke his baby was on his chest and the Jedi was watching him from across the room.

Din hadn’t meant to cry either, but in the cold dank dark of the abandoned mess hall, Grogu eating sleepy bites from a spoon, it had become too much for him. He forgot about the other man sitting across the table from him and cried until he felt numb and the empty feeling that surrounds him echoes with the remnants of them. The last of his tears fell, an acute feeling of shame coming over him.

“Sorry,” Din husks. His throat hurts, his nose hurts, his head hurts. The impromptu nap had left a heaviness like lead hanging heavy in his bones. He isn’t handling himself well, especially not in front of a stranger who had clearly shown himself to be powerful. 

“Why are you sorry?” The Jedi asks, he’s smiling at Din, like he knows him. Din doesn’t know how to feel about that. 

Din’s hands twitch as he shrugs, a listless thing, “ I normally don’t, um, cry. In front of people,” Well. He does, just not that much. He’d cried on the Slave 1 after the Razor Crest was destroyed and Grogu taken from him.

The Jedi shrugs, “It’s fine. Perhaps you should find somewhere you can sleep more comfortably.”

Din narrows his eyes at the Jedi, pulling his baby closer. Had he come back just to taunt Din with his baby? The Jedi’s eyes go wide.

“I promise I will not leave with your child unless you allow it,” The Jedi looks a little unsure of his standing, “And if you change your mind, I understand. I would never make him leave you if he nor you did not feel safe, and I do not mean to torment you.”

“No. Grogu needs guidance and I cannot give it to him. I want him to be safe, and with you I know he would have been.” Din says. He runs a hand over Grogu’s back as he squirms in his sleep. The Jedi smiles wider at him, a brighter thing this time.

“I did not lie. I will protect that child with my life, that does not mean that it doesn’t pain me to separate the two of you.”

“Thank you,” Din mumbles. His face feels gross. Caked in sweat and tears. His mouth tastes like copper from where he bit his tongue as he was slammed into the wall. 

“Can I ask you something?” The Jedi asks, before huffing another laugh, “ I actually have many questions, you don’t have to answer of course, but I feel very lost.”

 _That makes two of us_ , Din thinks bitterly, he nods his consent even if he still feels wary. 

“You removed your helmet in front of me, but Cara would not allow me to remove it while you slept.”

Din goes cold, “You tried to take my helmet off?” he hisses, already standing. He doesn’t know what he’s planning to do, but then the Jedi beats him to it, standing and waving his arms.

“No! I didn’t touch your helmet. I promise. I merely asked if we should remove it. Cara already threatened me.” The Jedi ends his rushed explanation with a tiny chuckle and Din sinks back into his chair. The Jedi follows his example.

“Grogu had never seen my face,” his voice cracks hard at the admission. The Jedi’s eyes go wide.

“Never?”

Din shakes his head, “Never. Part of the creed I swore forbids me from taking my helmet off in front of living things, but I could not stand the thought of letting him go without seeing him with my bare eyes.” he looks up at the Jedi, who seems even more confused, “And at the moment I did not care that you were standing there too.”

“Your connection to Grogu is,” the Jedi breaks off shaking his head and glancing down at the baby. “He told me a lot about you when we talked. He says you are kind and good, and-”

“I’m not,” Din snaps, interrupting the Jedi. “I’m not any of those things. Those are just the ramblings of a child that doesn’t know better.”

“He says you saved him. I think little Grogu is wise enough to judge someone's character.” The Jedi is still smiling at him, “I find myself inclined to agree. The force speaks loudly around you. Grogu knew this.”

“What the hell is the force exactly?” Din asks.

“The force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.” he’s full on grinning now, like he’s shared some great joke with Din. “At least that’s what my old master told me it was.”

“I still don’t understand. Grogu could do things I can’t explain, things no one has been able to explain.” Din groans. He’s so tired of being so lost. He wants to go back to a time where he knew things.

“I’m guessing he could do things like this.” Din tenses as the empty ration packet lifts off the table, floating in a lazy circle.

“Yeah. The other Jedi I talked to tried to get Grogu to lift rocks.” Din says, the packet falls back to the table.

“Another Jedi? I thought I was the last one.” the Jedi mutters. Din shifts in his chair, it’s just occurred to him how eerily quiet it has been. The Jedi said the others hadn’t left, but it had been silent outside of the mess hall.

“So this thing that Grogu has, is the same force. She mentioned it, but I still don’t get it.”

The Jedi looks at him, and it feels like he can see clear through Din’s visor. Locking eyes with him, “I don’t understand completely either. I have learned through the war, and through my travels, that Jedi and the other side, the Sith, are not the exclusive owners of the force. I was foolish and young to not understand my masters words, blinded by the notion of this power I had. You cannot move items with your mind can you?”

Din shakes his head.

“Each living thing in the galaxy holds the force, for some of us though it manifests itself in the form of these powers. When I look at you through the force I can see your own. It’s quiet, but it’s there. Grogu’s force is loud, it has manifested itself. That is what sets the Jedi and Sith apart from all other living things. It is not this monumental gap, you are not so lost in understanding as you think.”

Din looks back down at his baby, still pale, too pale, for his liking and most likely dreaming about his imprisonment. He clenches his jaw against the onslaught of moisture that gathers in his eyes again at the sight of his child.

“I don’t care,” he croaks, “ I don’t care if he’s a Jedi. I don’t care if this power has manifested itself in him. I care that he stays safe, I need him to.”

“I know, and I promise, I swear, I will train this child to be a person first. The Jedi end with me, I feel like I can take creative liberty in my teachings.” 

Din nods, “Where did you plan on taking him?”

The Jedi lets out a sigh, “I hope I will be able to take him to a Jedi temple, but those are few and far between. I am lucky when I find one, but until then I would most likely take him to Yavin 4.”

“The New Republic is there,” Din says, and once against the Jedi nods. Din frowns, “I am not in good standing with the New Republic, are you sure he would be safe there?”

The Jedi watches him carefully now, “No harm will come to the child in my care.” He says it firmly, “From anyone.”

“Who are you? Why do you care so much?” Din asks.

“I’m Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi. I care that this child learns to use his power, but with that I care that his father knows he is safe.” din turns away from the sincerity. It feels real, he doesn’t think the Jedi, Luke, is lying, but friend had become foe and trust had been broken one too many times.

“What is your name? Surely it is not Mando.” Luke says. 

“It’s Din,” he says quietly. His own name sounds foreign on his tongue, “Din Djarin,” The Jedi has seen his face, and Din has nothing left to lose. It’s all gone. Why not give his name away as well.

“It’s nice to meet you Din.” Luke holds out a hesitant hand. Din reaches across the table with the same hesitancy to clasp it. 

The stilted silence that hangs over them is broken by Cara’s voice coming over the ship’s intercom.

“Mando, if you’re still on the ship get your ass up here, you need to see this.”

Din scowls as Grogu jolts awake from the noise. He lets out a piteous little noise that sends a jolt through him. Luke is standing already hand on the weapon strapped to his belt, eyes narrowed as he peers out into the hall. Din stands too, edging into the doorway with him, lifting his blaster.

“Something is wrong,” Luke breaths. 

“What do you mean?” Din asks, tucking Grogu closer against his chest.

“The ship is moving,” Luke murmurs. Din holds as still as he can, and Luke is right. The ship is moving. Worried blue eyes turn on him, “and something tells me it isn’t any of our doings.”

Din swallows, the familiar feeling of fear starting to crawl it’s way back into his chest. Grogu suddenly feels so much heavier in his arms. The armor on his body feels like weights dragging him down. If whatever is happening leads to a fight, Din might not be able to survive it. Exhaustion courses through him, and his body hurts from the beating he took, but if it’s a matter of losing Grogu again, he’ll have to. Din refuses to lose him again.

A hand comes down onto his pauldron. Luke watches him, jaw clenched eyes wide and determined, “We aren’t losing him Din. Whatever happens I’ll stand by you.”

The lights in the mess hall flicker and Luke takes his sword off of his belt. It illuminates the entire hall in green as it slides into existence. “I’ll go first,” he says and steps out of the door. Din grabs the back of his cloak.

“I have a blaster, I’ll go first,” he says lowly. Luke raises an eyebrow at him.

“I took out all of those dark troopers. I’ll go first, besides you have the baby.” With that he sweeps in front of Din, raising his laser sword. Din mutters a profanity at the Jedi before following.

It’s slow going and every shadow makes Din’s heart pound. He follows the green light in front of him like it’s his last hope. As they draw closer to the bridge the hum of the ship becomes more noticeable. They haven’t heard from Cara since that first call, and the low humming coming from the speakers that line the halls worries Din. 

The wrecked door of the bridge grows near and Luke halts. His eyes flutter closed and he reaches a hand out towards the door. Din raises his blaster, unease prickling up and down his spine. Luke’s eyes snap open.

“They’re fine.” he says, turning to Din. “It’s just them.”

The bridge looks exactly like it did when they left. The bodies, the monitors, the Darksaber. Nothing has moved. Cara looks alarmed, watching the stars move around them.

“ I thought you two had jumped ship,” she says, her voice is oddly quiet. Wrong. 

Luke walks in behind him, glancing around the monitors looking for something.

“What is it?” Din grits. He’s probably holding Grogu too hard, pressing him against his breastplate desperately.

“They must have set the ship to return coordinates that activated once the bridge was attacked.” Luke says. He puts his sword away and Din hesitantly follows suit with his blaster.

“Return coordinates?”

“Yeah. They help return battle class cruisers to friendly systems if the ship has been attacked. That way the ship can be recycled,” Luke's wandering fingers pause on a control panel, “Ah. Here we go.”

Din comes closer leaning over his shoulder to peer at the tiny screen. It’s barely noticeable amid the other blinking lights.

“Where are we going?” Din asks. Luke has tensed again, his eyes charting the little blinking lights that flick across the screen.

“Why would they send the ship so far out?” Luke stands straight, looking at Din. Cara frowns almost as gravely as Luke does. 

“They’re sending this ship as far away from everything as they can.” Reaching as finger forward she presses it against the screen, “Here. This is where we’re going to have problems.” 

“Why?” Din asks, looking between Cara and Luke’s concerned faces.

“Because when we hit those coordinates, we go into light speed and there is no return after that.” Cara says with a grim smile. Luke winces a little before turning back to the monitor.

“There has to be a way to stop it right? We haven’t entered hyperspace yet there has to be a way to counteract the command.” Din says and Luke nods along. 

“Exactly. Come on help me find a way to fix it.” Luke unclasped his cloak letting it fall to the floor in a heap. Din looks between it and the child in his arms. He picks it up off the floor pooling it into a chair and laying Grogu into the folds of black fabric. Din touches his head softly, running a finger over his ears.

“I promise after this I’ll make you feel better. Be patient with me.” Din reassured before returning to Luke’s side, “What do I need to do?”

“You and Cara check those monitors over there. Overthrow command buttons are normally red and placed next to vital command switches. Look for anything that is labeled hyperdrive.” Luke supplies, he gestures towards the other monitors in the rooms. Cara narrows her eyes at Luke.

“You know a lot about imperial ships,” she scowls and Luke laughs, his eyes still trained on the screen in front of him.

“I know a lot about ships in general. I grew up on Tatooine, you learn about every ship that sets down in the ports there, and besides, the New Republic ship’s bridges are more similar to this than people think.”

Cara still looks like she distrusts Luke, but the mention of the New Republic ships seems to appease her enough to follow Din to the other side of the bridge.

“Where is Fennec?” he asks, reading over switches. 

“She went to try and fix the coms. There’s a box or something that shorted out. The other two are still in the med bay.” her voice is laced in disgust. 

“What about the shuttle we came in?” he asks, there’s a switch with a tiny hyper drive written next to it. He hesitates a split second before flipping it. A little screen and keyboard flip out of the paneling.

“Dank ferrik,” Din spits, “We need an access code.”

Cara sighs, ‘Of course we do, and there isn’t any way we’re getting that shuttle launched again.”

Luke has come across the same problem.

“I wonder if R2 could override the system,” Luke sighs. He’s standing by Grugo, looking down at the sleeping child. “Where is R2?” he says as an afterthought.

“He’s your little astromech right?” Cara says, “He was heading back down to where you landed your X-Wing.”

“Droid thinks he can do anything,” Luke groans. He runs a hand up through his hair, making blonde strands stand up.

“We have to figure something out.” Din snapped.

“Obviously,” Cara snapped back. She turns to Luke who is staring at the floor in consideration, “What if we talked to Gideon?”

“No.” Din spat,“We can’t let him find a high ground with us. We can’t provide him with the possibility too.”

“Mando he may be the only one of us who can stop this ship!”

Din turns to her sharply, “He knows things. He had us figured out a long time before I confronted him. He cannot be trusted!”

“Him knowing things would help us in this situation Mando!”

“I’m not giving him the chance to take Grogu. I won’t fail again!”

Luke steps forward, “We cannot trust Moff Gideon, but at the same time, Cara is right. He may be the only way to stop the ship.”

Din glares at him, “there are droids on board who may have the access code uploaded. Your astromech can go through them right?”

Cara snorts, “Actually relying on droids, that’s a first Mando.”

Luke nods, “You’re right. I didn’t even think about the other droids on the ship. I’ll go find one and get R2 up here to check it out.”

“Let me come with you,” Din blurts. He bites his lip, cursing himself silently. Luke shrugs though.

“Come on then.”

Din looks back at Cara as he picks up Grogu and Luke’s cloak. “We’ll figure this out.”

She nods at him solemnly, “If you see Fennec down there send her back up. I don’t want to be here alone.”

Luke is waiting for him out in the hall. He has his blade out again casting green light down the dark corridor.

“I have a light,” Din mutters, flipping on the light embedded in his visor. Luke smirks at him.

“Would you like me to put it away? I’m sure we can make it with your blaster,” Luke teases. Din lets out a long sigh.

“Fine. Keep your damn light sword out.”

“It’s a light saber.”

“Of course it is.”

They find Luke's astromech first, beeping angrily up the hall. Din levels his blaster at the droid, it beeps and whirs at him. Luke reaches up and pushes his blaster down scowling.

“R2 isn’t going to hurt you. Don’t point blasters at him, he tends to get a little offended.”The droid beeps and chirps rocking side to side. Luke rolls his eyes. “He’s dramatic.” 

“I think I know where he gets it from,” Din mutters, sliding his blaster back into it’s holster. Luke makes a choked off noise in the back of his throat.

“Are you calling me dramatic?”

“Yes,” Din says matter of fact, turning away from droid and human to shine his light down an off-shooting hall. There are no bodies littering the floor and it looks deserted. Luke’s light saber does an admittedly better job at lighting the hall ways and they peer together down it.

“This ship is...odd,” Luke whispers. “It feels dead.”

“All the better for us.” Din walks down the hall, blaster out again, baby held close. Luke jogs to catch up.

“You are determined,” he laughs at Din’s elbow. “And brave. Very brave.”

Din wonders what Luke would say if he could feel how fast Din’s heart is beating. How much he’s sweating under his helmet, how unsure he feels. He says nothing in return.

The hallway continues to be empty. R2 beeps on and off, Luke answering him at times, voice hushed. It feels like they should be whispering and for that Din wants to shout, to break the tension that sits fat and heavy in the air. He wants something to happen. Adrenaline pumps through his veins, making his fingers tap and every sound set his nerves on fire. It feels like he’s being pulled apart at the seams.

Luke stops and turns to him, “Breath Din.”

Two simple words, and he does. He lets out a shaking breath that wheezes through his helmet and rattles in the silence. Luke's features flicker black and green, deep shadows carving into his face from the green flare. The droid is quiet, Luke is quiet, Grogu is quiet. So so quiet.

“What do you need? You’re going to accidentally shoot your blaster if you aren’t careful.” Luke says. He’s come closer now, close enough that Din can hear the hum of his weapon.

“Talk,” Din rasps. Luke’s eyes go wide in surprise.

“Talk?”

“Yes. It’s too quiet. It...grates on me.” A poor explanation, but Din isn’t sure he can express in words how the silence is making him feel.

“What should I talk about?”Luke questions, and Din finds himself surprised that he’s even willing to do it.

“Anything. Tell me anything.”

So Luke talks. They continue in caution down the hall, but now they are accompanied by Luke's stories of hot days on Tatooine shirking chores to race his friends. Luke doesn’t try to make conversation, he just talks, and occasionally his droid will chime in with bits and pieces of a story Luke had forgotten. At one point Grogu opens blurry eyes, looking up at Din from the depths of Luke’s cloak. Din is so relieved to see his eyes, it nearly knocks the breath from his lungs, and together they listen to Luke's tails until Grogu slips back into slumber.

They come to an intersection and pausing, the words dying on Luke’s lips as they consider the four hallways they can go down.

“It would be easier if we split up,” Luke muses.

“No.” Din shoots the idea down fast. 

Luke frowns, “I don’t know how much more time we have Din.” he’s right and Din knows he is, “Take R2 with you. He can keep you company.”

“I’m not letting you wander around in this ship alone.” Din argues. Luke grins reassuringly.

“I’ll be okay. I think I can handle whatever comes out of the dark.”

“Luke,” his name sounds stilted coming from his lips. Coming from the metal confines of his helmet. Blue eyes meet his even through the visor, they’re determined, and damn confident.

“ I will meet you here, and one of us will have a droid.” Luke reaches out before deciding against it and dropping his hand, “Keep and eye on him R2.”

It’s so much darker without Luke's light saber. Din keeps close to the wall, teeth digging into his lip as he takes steady steps. The droid rolls slowly besides him, beeping and chirping. It’s nowhere near as comforting as Luke’s stories, but it’s something so he doesn’t snap at the droid to shut up. Something glints silver at the end of the hall and gut wrenching fear tears it’s way through Din. It stops him in his tracks. He isn’t sure how to feel when an imperial droid shuffles its way into the light.

Luke's droid makes short work of it, sticking out an arm, sending electricity arcing through its body. It falls over Din watching it’s descent stupidly. The astromech chirps and beeps and rocks. Din waves it down.

“Okay, okay. Thank you.” he debates his situation. If he carried the droid he’d be down to no hands to hold his blaster. He could always drop the hunk of metal if something were to happen. He holsters his blaster and crouches to examine the droid. He settles on sitting on the floor in the dark halfway and fashioning a sling for Grogu with Luke’s cloak.He alternates between looking both ways down the halls and tying the black fabric across his breastplate. Grogu seems none too happy that his cocoon of warmth was taken from him, and Din speaks quiet words in Mandalorian to him as he finishes the sling.

The droid is heavier than expected as he heaves the awkward limbs onto his back. Grogu is safely secured to his chest though, and he has a weapon hand so the situation would be a lot worse. The astromech beeps at him, and Din scowls.

“I don’t know what you’re saying droid. Just keep your light on.” 

It’s slow going walking back along the hall. It’s no less nerve wracking either. His back had been towards a place he had come from before and now it was to where the droid had come from, and he was relying on an astromech that acts like a puppy.

There is no green glow when he finally emerges from the dark hallway and Din counts it lucky that he had found a droid in the first hallway. A rare stroke of luck for him. Now though he stood in the intersection with no sign of Luke anywhere and an astromech that grows increasingly more anxious. Din drops the droid to the floor flinching as the crash breaks through the silence. Grogu whimpers and Din presses a hand to his little head.

“Just a little longer. I promise. Just a little longer.” he looks down the hallway Luke disappeared into and longs to see the green glow of his light saber.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo, I was not expecting the amount of love the first installment of this got. Like I was seriously blown away. I was so overcome by the comments I haven't been able to get to them all. Know that I have read every single one of them, and they have made me feel things. Like seriously you guys are way too nice. Thank you so much.
> 
> Also this is not edited at all. I'll probably fix it after posting, lazy I know, so sorry for any awful mistakes you find. It's late😂
> 
> Thank you again and enjoy!


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